


reaching for memories (there's nothing but dust)

by images_words



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Amnesia, Flashbacks, Gen, M/M, Mystery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psi Corps, Season/Series 04, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25394338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/images_words/pseuds/images_words
Summary: Marcus goes missing on a mission.He comes back different.
Relationships: Delenn/John Sheridan, Marcus Cole/Stephen Franklin
Kudos: 5





	reaching for memories (there's nothing but dust)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song Losing Track by The Mechanisms!

Stephen was worried about Marcus. 

Not to say that he wasn't _always_ worried about Marcus; the Ranger had a way of getting himself into trouble. But this was different.

Marcus had been sent away on what was supposed to be a one-week mission. That had been three weeks ago.

And Stephen wasn't even allowed to know what the mission _was_. It was apparently highly classified, between Marcus and the Captain only. Even Ivanova didn't know the details. 

But it was no secret that Marcus had failed to make contact when he was supposed to. John was worried too. Everyone was worried.

Stephen, as he tended to do, had thrown himself into his work. Which he was very much in the middle of when his link beeped. 

"Yes?"

John's voice came through. _"Stephen, you're needed in the docking bay, there's a... medical emergency."_

"Alright, I'll send someone right away."

_"No, um... it needs to be you, Stephen."_

"Captain, with all due respect-"

_"Stephen, it's Marcus."_

_Shit._

"I'll be right there."

***

Stephen wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but he certainly wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him. 

Marcus had been laid out on a stretcher. He was deathly pale, and seemed to be unconscious, but his eyes were wide open. The side of his head had been shaved, and Stephen realized with growing horror that there were barely-visible stitches there. Someone had performed surgery on him.

"What's the emergency?" he asked, trying to push down the growing dread, the feeling that something terrible had happened to Marcus. Trying to stay professional. And the part of him that was staying professional saw no emergency here; no one bleeding out, suffocating, or otherwise at risk of imminent death. "I mean, something is clearly wrong with him, but..."

John shook his head. "I... honestly, I don't know. I just... for some reason I felt like it was important to get you here as quickly as possible." He sighed. "You wanna know what's really weird?"

"What?"

He walked over to the ship that Marcus had come back in. "This isn't his ship. Not the one I sent him out in, I mean."

"That is weird... was he conscious when he got here?"

"No, he's... he's been... like this... the whole time." John sighed. "I don't know what to call it. He's unresponsive, but his eyes are open... it's so weird."

Stephen nodded in agreement. "Very weird. I... have him brought to MedLab." He turned to leave.

John placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stephen... are you okay?"

Stephen shrugged him off. "I'll be okay when he's okay."

****

Stephen had been sitting by Marcus's bed for hours. There was really nothing he could do except wait. And it was agonizing. 

Marcus was still just... lying there. His blue eyes, once sparkling and full of life, still frozen open and so, so empty. 

And then he blinked.

Stephen wasn't sure if he'd really seen it at first. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, or wishful thinking.

But Marcus suddenly sitting straight up definitely wasn't his imagination. 

He was still staring blankly ahead, and Stephen wasn't sure he was really aware.

"Marcus? Can you hear me?"

Marcus slowly turned his head to look at him. "Yes, I can hear you." He paused for a moment. "Who exactly are you?"


End file.
